Abnormal Psychology: Childhood disorders

– Integrative disorders, (no more distinct disorders)
– Disruptive Disorder
– Impulse Control
– Conduct Disorder
– Neurodevelopment Disorders
Autism Spectrum

– Children are developing and changing rapidly
– children may not communicate directly
– often rely on parent report
– must consider family context

– view abnormal behavior within the context of normal development

– create difficulties for external world, failure to conform to rules or expectations of others
– Types: Conduct, Oppositional, ADHD

– Biological: temperament, Genetics, Neuropsychological abnormalities, food additives and sugar
– Social: Parenting styles, influences of media and peers
– Psychological: Self Control, moral reasoning

– affect the child’s internal world
– Anxiety
– Depression

– New Mood Disorder in DSM 5
– Childhood Disorder (ages 6-18)
– Severe recurrent temper outbursts (3 times a week for at least a year)
– Persistent irritable, angry mood between outburst
– an alternative to diagnosing children with bipolar disorder

– persistent pattern of inattention or hyperactivity that interferes with functioning
– must see symptoms for at least 6 months and a degradation of social academic/occupational activities
– symptoms present before age 12, present in two or more settings
– symptoms cannot occur during course of any other psychotic disorder
-Medication: Stimulant Drugs, Ritalin and Adderal

– persistent pattern of behavior in which basic rights of others or major societal norms are violated
– must meet 3 of 15 criteria in these areas:
– aggression to people or animals
– destruction of property
– deceitfulness or theft
– serious violations of rules

– Empathy Building: discrimination another’s emotional state, assume the perspective and role of another, respond emotionally to another
– anger management: attend to internal state, practice adaptive self statement, practice competiing response thing through nonviolent solutions, reward self for nonviolent solutions

– feel extreme anxiety, often panic, whenever they are separated from home or parent
– temper tantrums, cry, or plead to keep their parents from leaving
– fear that they will get lost or that parents will get sick or get into accident

– depression in young children
– can be caused by negative life events: losses, major changes, rejection, or on-going abuse
– headaches, stomach pain, irritability, and disinterest in toys and games

– repeated involuntary or in some cases intentionally wetting bed or wetting one’s clothes (5years old)
– may be triggered by stressful events: hospitalization, entrance into school, or family problems (physical or psychological abuse)

– repeated involuntary defecating into one’s clothing
– can be caused by stress, biological factors like constipation, improper toilet training or combination of these factors
– have history of constipation

– Includes both Autism and Asperger’s Disorders
– symptoms include:
– lack of responsiveness
(low empathy, lack of interest in other people, low empathy)
– Echolalia: language and communication problems (pronoun difficulty) repeat what other person is saying
– limited imaginative or abstract play
– restrictive, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior interests or activities
– must be present in early developmental period

– Level 1: requires support
– Level 2: requiring substantial support
-Level 3 requiring very substantial support
– with or without accompanying intellectual impairment

– caused by parents who created an unfavorable climate for development and contributed to child’s disorder
– However, rigid, cold, rejecting or disturbed parents have not been proven to cause autism

– the prevalence for autistic among their siblings is much higher than the general populations
– identical twins: 60 % prevalence

– awareness that other people base their behaviors on their own beliefs, intentions, and other mental states, not on the information they have no way of knowing
Example: Sally and Ann play with a marble, Sally puts into box 1 and Ann leaves, but then Sally moves marble into box 2 Ann comes back and is asked where is the marble
– Kids with developmental problems would say Box 2

– Method: Long term study with autistic children, 2 groups= treated vs non treated
– Findings: behavioral group did much better in school and scored higher on intelligence tests, able to go to regular school classrooms and gains continued through teenage years
– Implications: behavioral programs are preferred treatment for autistic disorder

– Deficits in intellectual functioning
– must be confirmed by clinical assessment and individualized in stargazed testing
– deficits in adaptive functioning
– onset during developmental period (before 18)
– levels: mild moderate, severe, profound

– Chromosomal abnormality: Down Syndrome
– genetic: Fragile X Syndrome, PKU, Prenatal factors: fetal alcohol syndrome
– Cultural-family factors
– Mainstreaming